


Tenko's Devotion

by thekagepro24



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: AU, Angst, Gen, Lots of Angst, drv3 spoilers!!, why am i making my best girls suffer even more what is this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 01:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15546141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekagepro24/pseuds/thekagepro24
Summary: What if after Korekiyo killed Angie, Tenko killed Korekiyo?An AU for Chapter 3 of DRV3! I've seen some people let down by the fact that the canon game didn't have two killers for this case, and I have had this idea in my head for a while, so here it is!Basically, I rewrote the happenings of Chapter 3, starting to deviate from when Tenko splits from Shuichi and Maki after being kicked out of the Student Council.





	Tenko's Devotion

 

This evening has been a bit rough.

Just a bit.

Tenko Chabashira, SHSL Neo-Aikido master, had avoided the temptations of Angie Yonaga. The only thing she believed in was Neo-Aikido! There’s no way the strong-willed Tenko could give in to Angie’s Atua!

So how?! How come the talented magician, Himiko Yumeno was deceived?! It must have been brainwashing! Himiko is in danger of giving up entirely to Angie’s will, she’s being led into the lazy way out!

 

“...”

 

“I know she’s trying, but this is so backwards. Angie’s gonna get someone hurt if she continues leading this crazy council.”

Someone…

That’s right.

What’s gonna happen to Himiko? She can’t be left like this. She’s completely given up….No!

The twin-tailed girl slapped both of her cheeks, a stinging sensation bringing determination along with it.

“This is just a rough patch! Himiko will come back to her senses, and then the relationship between us will grow and grow!”

 

...So why is this all still bothering her? It’d never be Himiko’s fault...It...might not be entirely Angie’s fault….. _Ugh! It’s all this ritual’s fault! Why is it so nerve-wracking?!_

 

After seeing Shuichi and Maki return to their rooms, she emerged from her own and left the dorm area. Tenko had taken advantage of the student council’s privilege to be out and about at night time as a way to pace around aimlessly. (As long as Himiko and Angie didn’t spot her, she’d be fine.) But now that her thoughts had been stuck on the ritual that was going to happen tonight, her feet had, after quite some time, led her up to the 4th floor.

 

Just a little peek. The Neo-Aikido master couldn’t stop worrying unless she got a glance at it. No evil ghost was going to rise from the grave or anything? The wax dolls weren’t going to be moving on their own? No one was going to get hurt...right? She just needed that assurance, akin to checking under the bed for monsters.

 

She was being as stealthy as possible. The last thing this rough patch with Himiko needed was more student council problems, so all Tenko needed to do is check the ritual out and then leave.

 

That was the intention, however….

 

“This...makes 99…”

 

 _99…? 99 what? Wait, who’s even speaking?_ Tenko had her ear pressed to the back door of the artist’s lab, but this was not Angie’s voice. Not by a long shot.

 

“Yes... all for you, Sister...Do you like your n-...n-...new friend? Angie Yonaga was a bit of an odd choice, but…! S-She was in the way of sending you friends! I would’ve…!”

 

_Kiyo?! What's he going on about? Angie’s supposed to be in this room, and yet he’s talking like she’s not even there! And who’s this ‘sister’?_

 

“Sweet Korekiyo. What good will a frightened mind do? Fear not, I will accept Yonaga with open arms! And one day, you, too, can join us as we reside in the blissful afterlife.”

“Ah...yes. J-just one more! Sister just needs one more friend! Just one more sacrifice! Say, Sister, are you ready to witness your final friend join the ranks of the dead…?”

 

_What….no….he...he said afterlife! And sacrifice?! Angie’s been killed by Kiyo?! No way! I know I wished she’d stop with her ritual, but not this way!_

_What’s going on?_

_Why?_

_He’s making friends for his ‘sister’...and sacrificing them to the afterlife?_

_But why?_

 

“Everything will be set up and ready for you soon, Sister! I’ll be performing the best Caged Child seance possible! Please do pay attention to the cage, for that is where your final friend will be. I have limited options, but I believe one will do.

 

Tsumugi is a decent candidate, but is rather obsessive over her hobbies. So much so that I doubt she’ll talk much to you, as your interests do not align. That wouldn’t work.

 

After that is Tenko and Himiko. Although Tenko would be the better option, I’m afraid she will end up rejecting any recommendation I make as to who shall be the caged child. She’s rather wary of males, you see.

 

As such, my most likely candidate for you...is Himiko Yumeno.”

 

_No…!_

 

“Tenko sees something in her, and we are best to not doubt her intuition. She seems quite skilled at reading people’s souls, so Himiko without doubt must have a heart deserving of your approval.”

 

_Himiko’s….in danger...he’s gonna ki-.....kill..._

 

“Look forward to watching the seance, Sister.”

 

_Himiko…no…_

 

Her whirling doubt and anxiety came to a full front now that Himiko was going to be killed next. Thoughts of nothing but protecting her beloved Himiko piled up.

 

The flimsy door breaks easily once the martial artist kicks it down.

A shriek resounds, as the normally calm and methodical anthropologist jumps backwards. He thought no one else on this floor, after all.

 

Tenko spots Kaede’s effigy on the floor, a katana next to it.

Her eyes dart towards the clumsily advancing figure.

 

Kiyo scrambles in a desperate attempt to grab the weapon at Tenko’s feet.

It was all in his eyes.

He was ready to kill Tenko to silence her.

 

Hands take hold of the katana.

 

_Killer. 99 and counting. Angie’s death. Himiko, Himiko and Himiko._

 

The blade is swung up.

 

She couldn’t think straight. All of her worries about this maniac and how much of a threat he was to Himiko clouded her mind.

 

Begs of mercy squeak out, pleading for just a little more time.

 

She had to protect Himiko.

 

No matter the cost.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**The Next Day...**

 

Shuichi woke up to the morning announcement as normal. He was still feeling a bit sleepy until Maki suddenly showed up at his door with Kaito, who looked more frightened than usual.

Well, figures. They had tried to stop Angie from doing the ritual yesterday. There was nothing good about it being recommended by Monokuma, and Kaito’s fear only made it that much more of a priority. They needed to do something about this.

 

Shuichi, Maki, and Kaito made their way to Angie’s lab.

“Should we try knocking?”

“What’s the point? Angie won’t open without a student council member present.”

The three stood and thought for a bit until Shuichi suggested checking the back door.

 

Maki went to look, only to find the broken remains of the back door sprawled out across the Artist’s lab. But that was nothing compared to who was inside the lab.

 

Angie Yonaga, the SHSL Artist with Korekiyo Shinguji, the SHSL Anthropologist a bit further from her.

 

Both dead, lying on the floor.

 

And in the middle of the two corpses, Himiko.

 

Her eyes looked hollow, just as lifeless as Angie’s or Kiyo’s. She was just kneeling, facing Angie.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Deadly Life**

 

“...Let us pray for Angie.”

 

After the sound of the two Body Discovery Announcements led them along, everyone was now in Angie’s lab.

 

Miu tried telling some of her usual jokes in her odd attempt to lighten the mood. ‘Wax’ this and ‘sleeping together’ that. No one listened.

 

Kaito was wary, and stayed far from the bodies and effigies. Dead bodies and resurrection rituals was not doing well for his fear of the occult.

 

Ouma was pouting and hiding some tools he had. Seems like he planned on using them for something, but no one was paying him much mind.

 

Kiibo, Tsumugi, and Gonta wept over the loss of Angie, the leader of their student council. Well, Kiibo was just as sad as the two who could actually cry, at least.

 

Himiko was still unmoving. Maki and Shuichi had asked her about what had happened, but she just wouldn’t answer. The only signs that she was still conscious were her breathing and the fact that she hasn’t limply fallen over.

Tenko was watching Himiko with quite a devastated look. She slowly approached her since Shuichi and Maki didn’t seem to be getting through.

 Hands touch each of Himiko’s shoulders.

 

“Hey...Himiko? I….”

 

“...”

 

Tenko’s eyes followed Himiko’s to the body in front of them.

 

Dressed in the brightest of yellows with an equally radiant personality to match.

 

Tenko thought about it more, and had come to the conclusion that she never really hated Angie. The feeling was more of a jealousy. Well, that and some suspicion.

She had oddly unnerving methods and a strange demeanor to match. But those were something that only those outside of the council really took note of. The only things those in the council seemed to know is that she had peaceful intentions, and gave what seemed to be the best hugs in the world. And who’s to blame them?

In the end, Angie Yonaga was innocent. She deserved some scolding, sure, but what does that matter anymore?

Himiko is now here, broken.

 

“Himiko. I’m sorry.”

 

The hands gripped her shoulders firmly, tempting her to talk.

 

“.....About what?”

 

Whatever Tenko tried to say next got caught in her throat. What was stopping her?

 

The Monokubs make a loud entrance. Whatever they said was nonsense, all they did was notify everyone of the Monokuma Files.

 

 _“1st victim. Angie Yonaga, SHSL Artist. Body found in SHSL Artist’s Lab. Time of death was roughly 2AM. Cause of death was a stab to the back of the neck. A laceration on her_ _forehead can also be noted.”_

 

_“2nd victim. Korekiyo Shinguji, SHSL Anthropologist. Body found in SHSL Artist’s Lab. Time of death was roughly 2AM. Cause of death was a stab to the heart.”_

 

Shuichi and Maki were the most reliable as of now. While the others were grieving, the duo investigated as much as they could, both mildly bothered by Kaito’s absence.

 

The katana that was stabbed into Kiyo was the one from his lab, and it was devoid of gold. This was because its flakes were on the floor, trailing to somewhere. Shuichi followed it while Maki stayed at the scene.

 

The trail had led to the center of the empty rooms. He looked around, at one point coming back to the lab to get Kiibo and Miu’s assistance. In there, they had found a floorboard sawed out and on the floor, with a bloodstain on the end of it. Kiibo and Miu were eager to show off the robot’s flashlight function, and used it to investigate, with noisy fanfare from Miu all the while. Underneath the floor of said room, they found blood that had fallen through the floorboards. Shuichi took note of the fact the sawed board was pretty much right above the blood under the floor.

The investigation was finished rather quickly, so the three returned to the artist’s lab.

 

This and that piece of evidence were found. Most of the remaining students were now helping in one way or another.

 

Yet Himiko still knelt.

 

“....What’s the point..?” quietly spilt out of the mage’s mouth.

 

“Wait! Himiko! There is a point! You can’t give up here!” Tenko lightly shakes her back and forth, as if to bring her back to her senses.

“I know Angie’s-…ah. Sorry, I shouldn’t…”

There was no need to state what was obvious.

 

Tenko looks back at Kiyo’s corpse for a brief moment.

“Why….did Angie have to die…?” followed Himiko’s previous question.

Silence offered her an unsatisfactory answer.

 

“Why indeed~?” A voice that’s grown to be a bad omen approaches.

“What do you want, you degenerate?” Tenko seemed to be hissing like a cat. He pouts in response. “Y’know, this is pretty boring. Investigating and pinning down the killer is the best part of this whole game, right~? Yet you two have been just staring this corpse down for so long! My god, if only causing boredom was grounds for execution…”

 

And in comes Monokuma. “No can do! You know the rules: Only killers get executed!”

 

Ouma’s eyes widen. Seems like an idea sprouted into his mind.

 

“You say killers as in the previous ones, but now I’m curious. What if there are two killers in this case? Like, what if the person who killed Angie is a different person from the one who killed Kiyo?”

“Upupupu..who knows? How about I tell you this? “You can’t let the blackened live.”

A few mumbled to themselves something along the lines of: “Isn’t that obvious? That’s always been the case.”

The bear left the room now full of irritated and confused expressions with his usual grin.

 

“Boo...and I was hoping you two would get punished for being so _du-!!”_

Kaito’s temper pulled him forward, his hand yanking Ouma’s checkered scarf, along with the gremlin wearing it, away from the two.

He dragged Ouma out to the hallway, seemingly ready to punch him for being so insensitive.

 

“Himiko. Let’s do our best for the trial, ok?”

 

Himiko’s been actually talking a bit, so that was a sign of progress. The Neo-Aikido master kept telling herself this.

 

“What does it matter. Finding the culprit won’t bring Angie back.”

 

They say the stages of grief start with denial, and Himiko isn’t denying the fact Angie’s dead. That’s progress.

 

Himiko returned her gaze to the deceased body.

 

It’s progress, but…

 

 

Maki had made her way to Kiyo’s corpse, taking note of evidence.

 

A single stab wound in the heart.

The wound had not been made more than once, meaning that the katana was stabbed just one time and never taken out. (until Maki did to inspect the wound just now)

There was pretty much no gold anywhere on the katana, due to the aforementioned trail. 

Kiyo’s hands had a little gold on them. Not nearly enough to make that trail, however. In fact, it was such a small amount that it could even be assumed he only held it once or twice at most. Washing the gold off was out of the question, due to the fact that Kiyo's hands were bandaged.

 

The assassin turned around, but her face met a soft fabric.

“Aah?! Who’s- Oh, Maki?” Tenko’s head whirled around.

And behind Tenko was Himiko. Behind Himiko, Angie.

“You two have been here the whole time.”

“Y….Yeah…”

“We’re supposed to be investigating.”

Himiko averted her gaze away from the assassin.

“Have you found anything?”

Tenko shook her head slowly.

“Then move. Both of you.”

 

It took a bit of effort, but Tenko managed to get Himiko to the wall with the unbroken door. It was far enough away from the corpses to try again at a conversation.

 

“Hey...Himiko?...What would you do if you knew who killed Angie…?”

“...I don’t care.”

“But we...you...you know? The culprit should be brought to justice, right?”

“Why?”

“Eh..? Because...well? I worked as an ally of justice before coming here..! I’d defeat all kinds of lowlifes…and...”

“What a pain.”

“If nobody solves this, everyone’s gonna get killed!”

“...”

“Himiko, Don’t you care about Angie at all?! If you’re so upset that she’s dead, then why don’t you avenge her by helping find her killer?!”

That got a surprised look from Himiko in response.

“Aaaah! I’m sorry for shouting! I-I was, and then…! It just slipped out-! But!? You see..!? No..that was too...! Um?”

 

Tenko proceeded to trip and tumble on many more words, while Himiko looked at her in awe. It was the first instance Himiko had even looked her properly in the eye since the day prior.

 

Wait. The mage mentally backtracked a bit. Everything was so blurry from when she saw Angie dead. Like her brain had just shut down from shock. But Tenko’s statement caused her to think back. Some kind of feeling _had_ felt stifled. And it was exactly the one Tenko said it was. She was upset over Angie’s death. That means Tenko did it again. Just like the instance at the dojo, she read Himiko’s feelings, crystal clear.

 

Managing to catch one of the arms constantly switching between gestures, Himiko lightly tugged on the edge of Tenko’s sleeve. The Neo-Aikido master’s reflexes were as sharp as ever, pausing the instant she felt it.

“Tenko...who killed Angie?”

“I’m not….sure…but let’s find out...during the trial..” She looked somewhat panicked as she took a nervous gulp, but Himiko assumed that was due to the sudden sleeve tug.

 

The usual announcement came on, telling everyone to hurry over to the Shrine of Judgement. Sure the Monokubs always said something different, but it made no notable impact besides most of the students looking away once Monophanie puked again.

 

Everyone made their way over there.

 

Miu hadn’t given up on her jokes, so Ouma was the first to shoot them down with ones of his own. Maki and Shuichi were exchanging information of their findings with each other, without making any conclusions yet. Kaito followed, encouraging his two so-called ‘sidekicks’. The three student council members approached Tenko and Himiko, asking if they knew who could do such a thing. For just an instant, a pair of light blue eyes met a pair of green eyes. They looked suspicious, yet knowing. But they turned into a friendly expression just as quickly. “Tenko, let’s do our best! It’s times like this you have to smile, just like that one twin-tailed anime idol!”

“What?! Um...yeah!” Maybe things were just getting to her too much. She took a breath to calm her nerves.

Kiibo butted his way into the conversation. “Were you informed of my new function?”

“Gonta not hear.”

“Well, then do I have something to tell you!”

His bragging followed them all the way to the elevator before they even realized.

 

The elevator ride, however, wasn’t nearly as energetic and lively as the walk there had been.

Everyone had become tense, looking back and forth between people until they had arrived at the trial grounds. They all found their spots again, and yet another trial started.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Class Trial: Begin!**

 

“Ahem! Now then, let’s begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! During the trial, you’ll present your arguments for who the culprit is, and vote for “whodunnit.” Vote correctly, and only the blackened will be punished. But if you pick the wrong person...I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will graduate from this academy! Also, refusing to vote will result in your death, so you better vote for someone!”

 

“I wonder…..maybe it was the one we found right smack in the middle of the corpses?”

“Suspecting her again?! You’re just the worst kind of degenerate, aren’t you?!”

“Oh? Then what do the others think?”

“Himiko no kill! She too kind!”

“Gonta, you’re so trusting! But...as much as it pains me to say this, I kind of suspect her as well.”

“Indeed. What business would she have there if not to kill?”

 

“Hold on! Himiko was there last night as well! Maki, Tenko, and I went to Angie’s lab to dissuade her from doing the ritual, and Himiko was there to check up on her!”

A somewhat defeated grunt escaped Tenko’s mouth. “Himiko often checked on Angie. She was probably concerned for her.”

 

“Oh! Gonta remember! Gonta saw Himiko early in morning, heading upstairs! She entered through the main building’s front door!”

“So she came from the dorms.”

“When I knocked on her dorm’s door to meet her in the morning, there was no answer!” Tenko checked on her everyday, so there’s no doubt she would know.

“Is this information accurate, Himiko?” Kiibo looked to be taking note of every detail.

 

“Mhmm. Angie was so excited for the ritual, but after those three came by last night, my MP started to rapidly decrease. Angie said I should go and sleep, so I did. But...I should’ve stayed...then maybe Angie...” Her sentence died out, leaving a silence in the room.

 

“...Y-You get it now? Himiko didn’t kill Angie! That’s for certain!”

“You’re just sayin’ that ‘cause you’re head over heels for that midget!”

Tenko was rendered a blushing mess from Miu’s sudden comment, so Kiibo asked something to follow up.

 

“If she is not the culprit, then how could Himiko have gotten into Angie’s lab?”

 

“The door was broken down, so all Himiko had to do to get into the lab is just walk in. Unless there’s anybody here who thinks she has the brute strength needed to kick it down herself.”

Maki said the second sentence while glaring everyone down, hoping there wasn’t anyone who’d actually try claiming otherwise.

 

“So the culprit’s Gonta, then! Only he’d be able to kick down the door!”

 

“No! Gonta never kill! Gonta was asleep, then woke up early for a run! Student council forbids being out at night!”

 

“Boo...what a stickler for the rules... Then someone outside of the council killed Angie?”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“What, are you stupid? The student council members would have no reason to kick down the door, would they? They could just ask Angie!”

 

“Wait, how the fuck did Kiyo get in there? He’s not in the student council!”

“Angie had to have unlocked it for him to enter, so…”

“Did she let him in?”

“A one night stand in her lab?! I knew that wax was gonna be used for wax play!”

“She only locks the door when she’s working, and she was working on the ritual the whole night!”

“And theeeeen, when the ritual was finished, the traaansfer student snuck up behind her and…”

 

“THA-THAT’S IT!! The Necronomicon is still there! S-Shouldn’t it have been burned?” He spoke much louder than Tsumugi to drown out any possibility of the occult.

“Wow. Right on the mark for once. Did everyone hear that? The ritual _didn’t_ work, so there was _no_ resurrection.” Maki eyed Tsumugi with a tinge of aggression.

“That’s not Angie’s fault...her lab didn’t have fire.” Himiko spoke to defend her.

“Candles were in empty rooms! Gonta saw them when exploring floor for first time.”

“The fact that she left her lab to get a candle means she couldn’t lock it from the outside. So someone took advantage of her in the center room.”

“Why the center room?”

“Shuichi found a floorboard in that room. It’s the only thing that could’ve made that wound on Angie’s head.”

 

“Ooooooh! How smart! I’d be tempted to call you a detective, but you just know so much about this kinda stuff because you’re an assassin~!”

“Yet she doesn’t even have an ass to suit the name! Kyahaha!”

The pairs’ mockery quickly turned into cowardice once Maki shot an especially deadly glare at them.

 

“Wait, who kill Angie and Kiyo? Did Gonta miss something?”

 

“Well, they’re right next to each other, so they were both killed at once by one of us, right?”, Tsumugi questioned.

 

Of course Ouma had to chime in again. “Maki could’ve killed both easily! She’s an assassin, so kicking down a door and offing a couple targets would be in a day’s work for her, wouldn’t it?”

She responds by shooting yet another glare back at him.

“Ehhhh~? What’s wrong with what I said?”

 

Shuichi seemed deep in thought. Something _was_ wrong, but what was it?

 

Kiibo noticed Shuichi pondering, and tried to offer another option.

“What if Kiyo killed Angie, then commited suicide?

 

“A suicide? Why the hell would he do that?”

“Um..well, humans have what’s called a ‘guilty conscious’, right? Perhaps his guilty conscious over killing led him to suicide?”

“Ooh, ‘conscious’, you say? What a big word for a robot!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?! I’ll have you know my index of vocabulary is beyond that of any normal dictionary!”

 

Why was this idea not sitting right, either? What’s wrong with these? Something’s inconsistent.

 

“Hm? What’s wrong, sidekick? You got an idea?”

“No...I feel like I’m forgetting something.”

And just like that, a memory resurfaced in Shuichi’s mind.

 

_~~~_

_“You say killers as in the previous ones, but now I’m curious. What if there are two killers in this case? Like, what if the person who killed Angie is a different person from the one who killed Kiyo?”_  
_“Upupupu..who knows? How about I tell you this? “You can’t let the blackened live.”_  
_~~~_

 

Kaito took note of Shuichi’s realization by reading his expression. “Everyone listen up! Shuichi has something to say!”

Shuichi cleared his throat and spoke up. “There were _two_ blackends all along! Monokuma wanted us to be think his answer of ‘You can’t let the blackened live’ to be dismissed as just what’s been the norm so far!” It was just to throw us off from the original question!

 

“Ya’ got me~! Leave it to the detective to be right on the money! Took ‘ya long enough, too! I’m bored out of my mind over here! I’m telling you all here and now: there are two blackends. Now get to the good stuff!” Monokuma roared.

 

“The fuck? Doesn’t that mean two of us are gonna get killed…?” Miu eyed the others with a mix of suspicion and fear.

 

“Wow~! Miu, are you really that dumb? I bet even Gonta’s figured out the answer to that by now. Right, Gonta?”

 

“Ah! Gonta’s...not too sure. But two executions would be horrible! Angie and Kiyo wouldn’t like that!” He got sidetracked, but just like that, everyone thought back to Kaede and Kirumi’s horrible executions.

 

The trial room fell silent.  

 

A heartbeat speeds up. Not that it’s been that steady ever since arriving at the trial. But just the idea...no. It’s been done already. There’s no helping it.

 

Maki spoke up, seeming unfazed by the tense atmosphere. “Monokuma said ‘You can’t let the _blackened_ live’, not ‘blackeneds’. One of the blackeneds was dead by the time he said that. Meaning either Angie or Kiyo killed the other.”

 

“Angie...wouldn’t kill anyone!”

That small yet powerful statement from the quiet mage sparked chaos.

 

“Mhmm! Himiko’s right! Angie’s super duuuuper sane, y'know~!”

“Angie was our leader!”

“A kooky bitch of a leader!”

“Wait! That is uncalled for!”

“Nishishi~ Are you saying Miu’s wrong? I mean, that wouldn’t be a first, though!”

“Stop badmouthing Ang-”

“Hey, shut your mouth! The gorgeous girl genius, Miu Iruma, is never wrong, fuckface!”

“Angie not kill Kiyo! She wanted peace!”

“You’re just against Angie because you haven’t seen Atua!”

“Angie....she...wouldn’t...!”

“‘Peace’? Give it up, that’s impossible-”

 

“WILL YOU ALL JUST _SHUT UP?!_ ”

Just like that, all eyes were on her.

“......Ah!! Wait...Uhm! Sorry for-URAHH?!” Tenko lost her temper, but bowed so far down in apology that she had hit her head against her podium.

“ _Mrrragh!_ I meant! Something! Is there? Evidence…? Like...flakes…?” Her broken up excuses of sentences messily fell from her mouth while she tried to steady herself.

 

“Tenko’s….right! The gold flakes left a trail from the lab to the 2nd empty room!”

“Nishishi! What’s this~? I thought Tenko was keeping watch over her favorite little magic girl the whole time.”

“Not the _whole_ time! The flakes were in the lab, so of course I saw them! But...where did they...uh...lead?”

Ouma stopped speaking and just stared at her, as if he was trying to analyze her.

 

Shuichi continued on. “They led to that second empty room with the floorboard.”

“Oh, the one Maki Roll said was used to kill Angie with?”

Maki nodded and picked up where Shuichi left off. “Also, there was a piece of duct tape under her body with her hair stuck to it, along with blood stains. Everything adds up.”

 

“I got it! That nutjob was killed with the floorboard! Kyahahaha!!”

 

“Miu…? That’s not right…” Shuichi uncovered his right ear.

“With the duct tape and the neck wound being the killing blow, this means Kiyo struck her on the head with the floorboard. Then he covered the wound with duct tape and carried her to her lab. There, he stabbed her in the neck with the gold leaf katana from his own lab.”

 

Ouma exploded in laughter at Miu’s messup, as Gonta tried to dissuade him from making fun of people.

 

While Ouma and Miu began to bicker, Shuichi tuned them out and seemed to be backtracking a bit. “Hm. That _has_ been on my mind...if Kiyo killed Angie with the katana, he wouldn’t leave the floorboard in the room. He must have been stopped in his tracks, especially given the tape and rope he was preparing. That all makes sense. But what doesn’t add up is the gold flakes leading to the 2nd empty room. Neither Angie nor Kiyo couldn’t have made them. Angie was the first killed, and Kiyo was killed in her lab.

 

Maki arrived at the answer. “The third party must have. You said that Kiyo is the dead blackened, and the one who’s alive is here. Whichever one of us here in this trial room that killed Kiyo made the gold trail.”

 

“But _why?_ ”

 

Kaito spoke. “Did they want us to find that floorboard? They had control over where it could be, but they just left it there, and even made a trail to it. Something’s telling me they want us to know some answers.”

 

“The fuck? Hey, culprit! If ya’ got the answers, spill it!”

“They’re not just going to reveal that, Miu…” Tsumugi adjusted her glasses.

 

A memory resurfaced in the detective’s mind. Kaede did the same thing, for her own personal reasons.

That’s right...relying on logic won’t reveal anything in terms of emotions and motives.

His gaze went around to each person, but there were about 4, 5, 6 people with looks of doubt and worry on their faces.

There’s no point in deducing just based off of their gestures.

But...

No one’s been trying to stop them or derail them majorly.

Then all that’s left is to do is to line everything up. Maybe then…

 

“Let’s go over this from the beginning.” Shuichi was ready to summarize the case.

 

**This all took place after myself, Maki, Himiko, and Tenko had left Angie’s lab last night. The culprit had been sawing a floorboard in the second empty room for some reason. They seems to have been planning something, but then Angie entered for a candle. Likely out of fear for whatever they were planning being revealed to everyone, the culprit felt the need to kill Angie to ensure her silence. They used the floorboard to strike her on the head, wrapped the wound with duct tape, and carried her to her own lab. From there, the culprit got the katana from their lab and stabbed Angie in the back of her neck, killing her.**

**Now, the floorboard is just sitting in the empty room, despite being incriminating evidence. No culprit would be that careless. This means that Kiyo was killed in the Artist’s lab after Angie was. With Monokuma’s statement that there were two blackends, it could easily be assumed that the two are both here. But, “You can’t let the blackened live” had another meaning as well. One of them is already dead.**

**The ropes, effigies laying on the floor, duct tape, and floorboard all indicate Kiyo was up to something, but the disarray they were in shows that he was stopped in his tracks. The second culprit found him in the Artist’s lab, kicked down the door, and used his katana to stab him in the chest to kill him.**

The first blackened, who is now deceased, is Korekiyo Shinguji, Ultimate Anthropologist.

 

“From there, it comes down to the second blackened. The person was strong enough to kick the door down, and would have been wandering at nighttime. Gonta, Kaito and Tenko are strong enough to kick down a door, but Gonta wanted to set a good example by staying in his dorm.”

“And Kaito was too scared to defy Angie. Scared enough to skip training.”

“S-S-Shaddup!”

 

“The only person left is you. Tenko Chabashira, Ultimate Neo-Aikido Master.”

 

~~~

 

Everyone’s eyes shifted to her, most of them expressing looks of shock.

 

The heartbeat speeds up more. Tough to manage, even though she knew this would happen.

She lets out a weak chuckle. “Yeah..you’re-”

 

_“No, you’re wrong! Tenko would never kill anyone!”_

 

“Himiko...I’ve already explained every bit of evidence...unless there’s some important piece of proof I’m missing…”

“You’re wrong! You’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong! I’ve been with Tenko for so long, and she- she’d never!”

“I don’t want to believe it either, but it’s the only possibility.”

“No, it’s not! You’re wrong! She’d never kill! She told me! H-her Neo-Aikido is for protecting, not hurting-”

 

Himiko was interrupted by the sound of nearby sobbing. She looked to her left to see that it was Tenko.

 

“Master said....even though I have physical strength...to never kill-! But I…! I killed Kiyo...I-! I killed him! I went against the morals...that Master and I...agreed on!” all said between hiccups and sobs.

The only thing Himiko could find herself doing was staring at her in disbelief.

 

“Hey, Pinwheel! Save the sob story for after Voting Time! ...Ahem. At last! The heart-racing excitement as the blackened and the spotless finally face off...” The remaining three cubs and Monokuma shouted in unison, “It’s….VOTING TIME!!!”

“Now wait a second, this one’s special. First you’ll cast your vote for Angie’s killer, and then your vote for Kiyo’s killer. Got that? Make triple sure to vote for both!”

Everyone had heard Shuichi’s explanation along with Tenko’s confession, and voted accordingly. The first vote to Kiyo, and the second to Tenko.

Even Himiko, despite her reluctance to vote, had done so. Her anger had turned to shock, disbelief, and that same numbness she felt after seeing Angie’s corpse.

 

The oversized monitor lowered, as words appeared on screen. “First killer”. All the tally marks were lined up next to Kiyo’s icon. “Second killer”. Just as before, all votes fell to one person. Tenko Chabashira, who was still trembling.

 

 

“Ya’ got it right! Korekiyo Shinguji was the blackened who killed Angie Yonaga, and Tenko Chabashira is the blackened who killed Korekiyo Shinguji! As such, there’s only gonna be one execution, and that execution’s for Pinwheel over here!”

 

Everyone’s gazes fell back on her, but no one said anything

 

Shuichi broke the silence. “Why did you leave all of the evidence as it was? Did you want to be found out…?”

 

“This whole thing was really thought out by Kiyo. There were lots of parts, so tampering with every part of it….y’know? If I left a bunch of clues pointing to myself, you would all think I killed both Kiyo _and_ Angie, right?”

 

Maki scowled at Monokuma. “That thing seems to twist the rules however it likes, so if we just took the easy way out by thinking Tenko killed them both instead of Kiyo killing Angie…”

 

“I couldn’t risk everyone getting killed if Monokuma deemed it wrong…” She sniffled a bit, the worries she had bottled up for the whole trial spilling out for all to see.

 

Kiibo was piecing the obvious bits together. “So you just left things as they were, with the addition of the golden flakes being your own doing. Well, Shuichi _is_ extremely skilled as a detective.”

 

The detective in question wasn’t taking this too well. Tenko knew she was going to be found out and executed? But…

“Why, Tenko? Why did you kill Kiyo?”

 

She knew this question would come up.

 

“He...killed…”

“Hm~? He killed who? Angie? Oh c’mon, Tenko! Like you’d bother avenging _Angie_!”

“Ouma! She’s talking! Please don’t interrupt! Not gentlemanly!”

 

“Kiyo killed 99 people! _99_!”

 

Everyone had a reaction like they misheard her as murmurs floated around the trial ground.

 

“I heard him loud and clear! He killed 98 people before coming here, and Angie on top of that! He said something about his sister being dead and bringing her friends! And he was…! He was planning to kill someone else! And he said the best candidate to kill was Himiko!” He…! I..! What else was there to do…”

 

Despite her motive seeming like it was being said to everyone else as if to persuade them to understand, Tenko’s eyes were locked onto her own shaking hands.

 

“No...I’m sorry, that’s not...I shouldn’t have gone so far as to kill, yet I-!”

Her apology was cut short by Himiko, who had ran over to hug her.

 

“...Sorry, Himiko.” She removes the mage’s hat and pats her on the head. “I knew all along, but if I confessed right away, things would’ve gotten complicated with all the double culprit stuff..? It’s tough to even expla-”

“...don’t want….”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want...you to leave…”

Himiko raised her face to meet eyes with Tenko, but her expression was still empty.

Tenko, on the other hand, teared up again. “You’re still keeping your feelings locked up…? Right now, you’re upset, right? If you are, then...can you show it…?”

Himiko remembered the night previous, when she had asked for the same thing. Tenko’s always been there, and she could understand what Himiko was feeling, even if slightly off sometimes. She always told her how amazing her magic was, she defended her in trials…

No matter how much it exhausted Himiko to be around the loud, energetic Tenko, it was worth it. But she was going to be executed soon. She was going to be gone. First Angie, and now Tenko...the two closest to her…

 

A short hiccup opened the floodgate of tears. Just like that, Himiko was weeping. All of her worry, fear, and sorrow from who knows how long ago had come to the forefront. Whatever she tried to say was drowned out by hiccups, stuttering, sniffling and wailing.

 

Tenko as well, started crying immensely. Her guilt over killing and her concern for Himiko’s safety had been swirling around her head this whole time, and were finally allowed to be exposed in full now that the trial was over.

 

The two held eachother and wept. Bits and pieces of Himiko’s attempted sentences came together, repeating that she didn’t want to lose Tenko.

Upon hearing that, Tenko had calmed herself enough to speak. “Sorry...It...has to happen now. But just because I’m….gone...doesn’t mean you should give up! Live every day facing forward with the others, Himiko! Please...? I know you can!”

Himiko was listening, but still sobbing as much as ever. Her slight and very hesitant nod was still a nod nonetheless, earning a smile from Tenko.

 

Everyone else was watching the pair, most of them in tears as well. Only three of them weren’t crying.

Kiibo couldn’t cry.

Maki seemed oddly used to this type of occurrence, but the look on her face still had remnants of pity for the pair.

Miu looked anxious. The previous executions she had watched had left a nauseous feeling in her, so she was busy looking around to see if the execution was going to start.

 

After what had been about a short 5 minutes, Monokuma announced loudly, “And now!”

 

He had gotten most of their gazes on him.

 

“For the moment you’ve alllll been waiting for!”

 

Everyone was looking now, except for the mage. She buried her face into Tenko’s chest in defiance.

 

“IIIIIIIIIIT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!”

 

Right after Monokuma pressed the usual button, a hole had opened in the floor below Tenko and Himiko. The monitors began displaying live footage of them to the onlookers still in the trial room, a few protesting to the fact Himiko was taken as well.

 

They both fell, screaming, until one of the screams got cut short. A few devices had caught hold of Himiko, and placed her on a tall cylindrical podium. Tenko was caught a bit later, and placed on the floor. The familiar feeling of tatami mat had greeted her. She looked around this new, spacious room. It had adornments similar to those of her lab behind her, except they all had some form of Monokuma on them. In front of her was a wall full of monitors.

Between Tenko and the wall, however, was the cylindrical podium with Himiko atop of it. She was standing in confusion, until meeting eyes with Tenko.

The room had several entrances that had now opened, as a few realistic-looking dummies ran in. They were robots, but looked just a bit too similar to actual people.

“Practice dummies? O-Of course I can handle this!”

Tenko took them out easily, but jerked back a bit after seeing what seemed like actual blood coming out of them. Not only had Tenko never been one for grotesque violence, but the blood had brought back thoughts of killing Korekiyo. That fuzzy haze of the time she had killed him caused some dizziness.

But she didn’t have time to worry, as the monitors behind Himiko began displaying something.

Every screen showed a realistic-looking video of Himiko dying in some way. Himiko being drowned, stabbed, burned, bludgeoned, and many other varieties played.

 

It looked too real to be false, but it’s not true…

 

Himiko herself was far too concerned for Tenko to dare to look away from her. And with the podium being only wide enough to stand on without falling, looking was the only thing she could do.

 

Tenko tried to avoid looking at the monitors, focusing on defeating the increasing amount of dummies emerging from the entrances.

 

She took down 3, 5, 9, 13...17…..18-

Suddenly, her body quickly met the floor. She had been tackled by 3 heavy ones, specially equipped with spikes that embedded their way into Tenko’s skin once she was down.

 

Himiko cried out for Tenko, and got her attention.

Whatever specific words she was screaming couldn’t be heard by her, however. And to make matters worse, the displays on the monitors of ways Himiko could die had gotten more graphic.

 

And now that Tenko was pinned down, more and more dummies came in. Some of the surplus of dummies were headed towards Himiko’s podium. While not nearly tall enough to reach her, the combined weight of them pushing was enough to wobble the podium.

The two girls had been lowered to this area with devices, as simply falling would’ve ended in death. Himiko’s podium was tall enough that a fall from it would severely injure, if not kill her.

 

~~

Those in the trial room have gotten louder.

“What’s Himiko being put in danger for?! Let her go!”

“She had no part in this case...that’s really weird.”

“Is this just bad luck on her part for falling with Tenko…?”

“Bad luck or not, get her the hell out of there!”

 

But nobody was listening to them.

~~

 

Tenko had been worn out from fighting, so no matter how much will she mustered up, the weight of her exhaustion and the multiplying amount of dummies was too much to bear.

 

The pain of being stabbed slowly was searing into her.

 

_Himiko...this was all for her…_

 

_Going as far to murder someone...it was to protect her…_

 

_And now that person she’s been trying to protect is going to die…?_

 

The gruesome displays on the monitors started to bleed into the real Himiko, due to Tenko’s blurry vision.

 

_No…_

 

_That’s not real!_

 

_Himiko’s strong! Himiko can overcome! Her accepting her emotions was a big step, and she’ll go even further!_

 

Tenko managed to lift her head up a bit, just enough.

 

Without thinking twice, she put her quickly draining energy into a yell.

 

“Hi... _HIMIKO WON’T DIE! SHE’LL LI-_ ”

 

Just then, her words were cut short, with a quick stab in the back of the neck.

 

And in her last moments...Himiko was knocked off of the podium, falling.

 

Tenko’s eyes came to a close.

 

~~

The trial ground turned into a mess of yelling. Everyone spoke at once after seeing Himiko fall.

“What the fuck?! She’s falling!”

“What do we do?!”

“This shouldn’t be allowed!”

“Not fair!”

“Save her!”

“Breaking his own rules?”

~~

 

Himiko landed next to Tenko. The two of them, motionless.

 

...Her eyes opened to see a fluffy whiteness.

She landed on the softest of a mattress-like material, and it had broken her fall.

 

“T- _TENKO?!_ ” There was no doubt that she had seen Tenko get fatally wounded, but it meant nothing to the Ultimate Neo-Aikido master, right?

Tenko was going to stand up any second now with a confidant grin, right?

Tenko...was going to wake up, right?

Right?

 

No pulse, injuries everywhere.

The monitors had now changed with a blaring siren. Himiko turned around on instinct, as two words stretched across the screens. Across them was written “EXECUTION COMPLETE” in garish red lettering.

There’s no denying it. Tenko Chabashira, Ultimate Neo-Aikido Master, was now dead.

 

Himiko grabbed Tenko’s limp hand, and began sobbing again.

This time, however, Monokuma had enough of waiting, and instantly input an command to the devices for Himiko to be lifted back up to the others.

Despite holding Tenko’s hand as tightly as she could, Himiko alone was taken up, as she had to watch Tenko’s corpse fade further and further away from sight.

 

The monitor footage had cut off after Himiko had started to fall, leaving everyone at a loss.

“The fuck...The _fuck?!_ ”

“4 people...dead…?”

“This isn’t right!”

“Monokuma said only the killer would be executed. Guess he’s a liar now, huh?”

 

“Is this what happens when I leave you brats alone? You start talking smack about me?”

Out of nowhere, Monokuma reappeared, catching everyone’s attention.

“What did I tell you idiots? Bears do not lie!”

 

Up through the same hole she had fallen into, Himiko had been lifted out. Once out, she was placed away from the hole as it closed up.

Everyone rushed up to her to ask how she made it, or if she was ok.

 

She was too caught up in her own thoughts to listen to them.

The image of Tenko in her final moments resurfaced in her mind. Buried under several dummies, stab wounds and bruises all over, trying with all her might just to move a mere inch. There were tears in her eyes, and her expression was one of sheer pain, yet she yelled ‘Himiko won’t die, she’ll li-.’

…She’ll live?

Seeing Himiko fall presumably to her death right after claiming she’d live...and having that be the last thing Tenko saw. That’s right, her expression, for the split second Himiko met eyes with her while falling, was one of heartbreak.

Losing Tenko and just the thought that she thought Himiko was going to die as well, it was more than enough to push her into another round of tears.

She hugged herself in a mess of sobs until passing out from exhaustion.

 

Gonta ran to catch her on instinct once she fell unconscious.

Afterwards, a few of them questioned Monokuma about his actions.

He responded by assuring he prepared for Himiko to be safe, and repeating the ‘bears do not lie’ motto he seemed to fancy. When pressed for a motive, he said, “Need to spice things up for those watching these executions, y’know? Not to mention that look of despair on Pinwheel’s face!”

 

As Monokuma continued spouting sadistic nonsense, the remaining students left the trial ground. Gonta carried Himiko on his back, despite Miu’s teasing. Ouma poked fun at Kiibo a bit. Apart from that, everyone else was emotionally exhausted.

Each student returned to their dorms for the night.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**The next day...**

 

Himiko woke up in her dorm the next day.

She walked to get breakfast with a slouch even worse than normal due to yesterday’s happenings. Bits and pieces of it replayed in her head, until that thing Tenko said came to mind.

_“Live every day facing forward with the others, Himiko! Please? I know you can!”_

…

She stood up as properly as she could, took a deep breath, and ran with all her might to the dining hall.

 

**_-END-_ **

 

**Author's Note:**

> Notes:  
> 1\. I wanted that Monokuma blackened thing to be a twist but it doesn't flow that well.. Also in this I use "blackeneds" as the plural even tho I don't think they do that in the game. 
> 
> 2\. I can't write trials for the life of me!!! So there might be a few parts that don't connect well. My thought process tends to be kinda scattered at times, so that probably shows in the trial I wrote. It's also kinda short because I didn't want to get all mixed up in too much evidence, and because this au is moreso meant for the moments before and after it.
> 
> 3\. I didn't want a constant stream of "....said Miu, ....said Shuichi, ....said Ouma" during the trial, y'know? So unless it was an important line or one that's a bit tough to tell, I didn't specify who said it. But the ones that aren't specified are either obvious (ex: “Hm? What’s wrong, sidekick?” = Kaito) or just throwaway lines! Kinda like the white noise during Nonstop Debates.
> 
> 4\. I've always wanted someone to call Tenko 'Pinwheel' bc of the pinwheel in her hair. So I made Monokuma do it.
> 
> 5\. This was around 22 pages in Google Docs. I should've probably split this into chapters, but there's a lotta flashbacks / things that tie into something from a while ago. So I compromised and split the text into 'deadly life', 'class trial', and so, but the whole story's one big thing.
> 
> 6\. This is an AU for Ch 3 only, I'm not gonna rewrite everything beyond that bc the same characters ended up dead.
> 
> 7\. Not too well explained, but Tenko keeps quiet about the answers because she was scared of what Monokuma would do if the trial was made too easy. And on top of that, telling them the answer right away would just seem like an attempt to lie to them, proven by how often Ouma lies like this. She also didn't want to risk them thinking she killed both of them, so she just left most of it as is.
> 
> 8\. I didn't include the Monokubs in the execution bc honestly putting them in the executions distracts too much. Just pretend Monodam mysteriously died just like Fukawa does in the bad ending of the 1st game. idk.
> 
> 9\. I like being vague sometimes to see what people will guess. But I'm not sure if those phrases are the kinda thing that only make sense to the one who wrote them / knows how everything's supposed to connect, y'know? So here are those vague phrases and what they meant now that you're at the end!  
> ~~~  
> "Begs of mercy squeak out, pleading for just a little more time." (Kiyo wants the final friend to be sacrificed, so he wants more time before he's killed to do that)
> 
> "Ouma was pouting and hiding some tools he had. Seems like he planned on using them for something, but no one was paying him much mind." (he wanted to show off his lock-picking as he got to do in canon)
> 
> " 'Himiko. I’m sorry.'  
> '.....About what?'  
> Whatever Tenko tried to say next got caught in her throat..."  
> (Meant as her wanting to apologize for not having caught Kiyo before he killed Angie)
> 
> "I know Angie's-...ah. Sorry, I shouldn't..."  
> There was no need to state what was obvious.  
> (Obvious to Tenko. Sentence meant to be "I know Angie's killer", but she stops bc she's keeping that a secret until the truth gets revealed)
> 
> “You say killers as in the previous ones, but now I’m curious. What if there are two killers in this case? Like, what if the person who killed Angie is a different person from the one who killed Kiyo?”  
> “Upupupu..who knows? How about I tell you this? “You can’t let the blackened live.”  
> (in response to asking if there's 2, Monokuma says 'you can't let the blackened live'. meaning there is indeed two, but one is already dead, explaining why he says 'blackened' instead of 'blackeneds' {yes, i use that as its plural in this} )
> 
> " 'I’m not….sure…but let’s find out...during the trial..' She looked somewhat panicked as she took a nervous gulp, but Himiko assumed that was due to the sudden sleeve tug." (Tenk knows damn well who killed Angie)
> 
> "For just an instant, a pair of light blue eyes met a pair of green eyes. They looked suspicious, yet knowing." (lol mastermind)
> 
> "It’s times like this you have to smile, just like that one twin-tailed anime idol!" (referring to Nico Yazawa, who Tenko shares a seiyuu with)
> 
> "A heartbeat speeds up. Not that it’s been that steady ever since arriving at the trial. But just the idea...no. It’s been done already. There’s no helping it." (Tenko gets kinda nervous knowing the trial's gonna end with her getting executed)  
> ~~~
> 
> is this even written well.  
> why am i making tenko suffer


End file.
